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The 1930s was a hugely interesting decade for a lot of different reasons, not least because of the incredible speed in which aeroplanes developed. Torn between the age of the biplane and the new times, the unfortunate He-51 was basically outdated as soon as the paint dried on its wings, like so many other designs from the early to mid 1930s.
Shipped to Spain to prove itself it had a very short period with success against even more outdated planes, but had to be withdrawn as a fighter plane before it embarrassed the Third Reich further and redeployed as a ground attack aircraft.
It did find some success there and was eventually produced in a pretty impressive 722 examples, which lingered on as advanced trainers and perhaps factory protection for the first years of the war.
As a ground attack plane it got its only nickname, "Caza de Cadena" or "Chain Fighter", after the way they attacked ground targets, coming in one by one to draw fire away from the plane that had just finished its attack.
A pretty boring nickname for a fighter I guess few remembered fondly, or even at all.
But still, it is from the 1930s interwar period that I enjoy very much, and while in my eyes not as pretty as some people think due to its somewhat bulbous cro-magnon forehead created by the BMW engine, it did appear in some handsome colour schemes.
The kit is Rodens He-51 B.1, which is a nicely detailed kit I hope will go together well.
It will be built mostly OOTB with after marked decals, a bit of Quickboost resin and other stuff, plus some amateurish scratchbuilding where needed.
So not really OOTB at all then.

Reims FTB337G LYNX
Roden 1:32
Under the terms of total sanctions, the purchase of new weapons was absolutely impossible. The management of adjacent South Africa, which also had increasing confrontation with the world community, over apartheid, nevertheless managed to transfer helicopters and trained pilots to Rhodesia; in addition, through unofficial mediators, it was possible to acquire dual-purpose aircraft in some Western European countries, which were de facto civilian, but could be easily reconfigured for military purposes. One such aircraft was the Reims 337G, the French license build of the American lightweight multipurpose Cessna Super Skymaster 337. In 1975, it was possible to purchase 18 such machines, one of which was lost while flying over Mozambique. All the other 17 succeeded in arriving at new bases and were soon involved in anti-terrorist operations. The civilian airframes were converted for their future missions - two 7,7 mm machine guns in containers were mounted above the cockpit over the wings, a number of pylons for hanging various types of weapons were mounted under the wing - from light bombs to cassette bombs, unguided rocket pods as well as special Mini Golf bombs, which turned out to be very effective weapons.
The right row of seats in the cabin in almost all 17 planes were dismantled to allow for installing litters to evacuate wounded special forces directly from the battlefield. Also, the engine exhaust outlets were shielded to reduce infrared radiation, as irregular combatants at that time already widely used the Soviet "Strela" MANPADS against government aviation. The first application of the new machine, which received the semi-official name of Lynx, revealed it to be a very effective weapon for anti-partisan warfare. The ability to launch attacks from low altitudes, a respectable turn of speed, and low visibility in the face of ground to air defence, and fairly high survivability made this aircraft indispensable in all significant operations against Nkomo and Mugabe. Particularly successful were attacks with the use of napalm containers - when they were used whole units of insurgents seemed to be paralysed, because the chances of surviving Lynx attacks with napalm were virtually non-existent. Another successful innovation was the Mini Golf bomb with a long, 1200-millimeter detonator in front of the body of the bomb itself. When dropping it from the plane under a parachute, the pin struck the surface of the ground, and detonation of the explosive occurred at a height of a meter above the surface. Due to the special composition of the explosive there was an effect, which was compared with the "mini-explosion of a nuclear bomb" - in the strike zone, this weapon destroyed absolutely everything alive without exception in an area of 100 by 150 meters. The use of this type of weapon was only occasional, but it had a very great psychological impact on Mugabe's armed groups. Another important role of these planes, just as with their US sibling the O-2, was to direct more heavily armed planes on to a target. A Lynx flew directly to a target and marked it with light or phosphorus bombs, and after that, there appeared a Hunter or a Canberra, which completed the mission. Also, very often, Lynx pilots flew in "free hunting" fashion, patrolling areas where insurgents were crossing the borders of the country from neighbouring Mozambique or Zambia.
The Model
Third in the 1:32 series of Cessna Skymaster derivatives, the kit comes in a rather large box with an artist’s impression of a heavily armed Lynx in-flight. Opening the box reveals ten sprues of grey styrene, and one of clear, there is also quite a large decal sheet. As with the previous releases there is quite a lot of flash visible and wave fronts on some of the parts. That said the details are finely done and there is a fair amount of detail included in the kit. While it looks great on the sprues, I’ve read that while the accuracy is fairly close, although there have been no reports of build problems I’d imagine the ones seen in the 0-2A Skymaster kit will probably surface in this kit as well. While the majority of parts are the same, this release includes a new clear sprue which contains the bulged pilots door windows there are also two new sprues containing the Rhodesian specific weaponry. The different wing tips and tail booms are also included
The build begins with the assembly of the two, four piece propellers, which include the spinners, horizontal tail unit with separate elevator, two, two piece wing mounted machine gun pods, two four piece pylons which includes the nicely produced crutch pads. The tail booms are assembled next, each from two halves and with separate rudders and anti collision light on the port fin. The engine exhausts are also assembled at this point and fitted. The engines themselves are complex little models in their own right, each engine consisting of no less than 50 parts. The rear engine frame and nose engine compartment/nose gear bay are also assembled, as is the seven piece nose landing gear. The seven piece front engine bay is fitted with the nose wheel assembly, followed by the engine assembly and the pair of exhaust pipe assemblies, which go into a new exhaust collector that sits under the rear fuselage. The rear engine frame is then fitted with its engine and the simpler exhaust parts. Unfortunately the anti Strela exhausts are not included. The completed front engine assembly is then the attached to the firewall and under pan.
Work then begins with the aft avionics bay that sits between the engine bay and the cockpit, this consists of four shelves on which the various radios and other avionic boxes are fitted. The instrument panel is then assembled, consisting of the panel, coaming, four rudder pedals, centre pedestal and control yolks with separate shafts. The four seats are then built up, two from five parts and two from four parts, before being glued into position on the cabin floor, unfortunately this is incorrect as I believe the rear seats were removed and the two 600 round ammunition boxes for the wing mounted machine guns are fitted in their place, but there appears to be very few, if any photos of this on the net. The three piece doors are then assembled and the windows and viewing ports added to the fuselage sides. If you wish to have the starboard side cargo door open the instructions show you where to cut so that it can be split and posed open, the struts are also included for this option. Now while the interior is quite nicely done, there is plenty of scope for the modeller to add further detail, including the quilted sound proofing, circuit breaker panel on the captain’s side of the cockpit, and seat belts. Hopefully an aftermarket company will release the parts required for the exhausts and interior.
If building out of the box the cabin floor is glued to one half of the fuselage, along with the engine assemblies and instrument panels and the three piece aft engine intake glued into position. The wing comes as three main parts with the upper section being a single piece moulding, not forgetting to open up the holes required for the pylons. The separate flaps can be posed in either extended or stowed positions and there is a skylight fitted above the cockpit area. The wingtips are also separate and are of the correct type for this version. The main landing gear comprises of a single piece strut and a pair of three piece wheels. With the fuselage all assembled, which will require a significant amount of weight in the forward area, wherever you can squeeze it in, the wing is glued into place along with the two booms and horizontal stabiliser. Then the main undercarriage assembly is add as are the pylons, weapons pods, nose bay doors, Rad Alt panel, and main gear doors. Finally the outer pylons are fitted with the four piece mini golf bombs, while the inner pylons are fitted with four piece napalm bombs, while the two wing mounted pods are also fitted, as are the various aerials.
Decals
The decals are really rather a disappointment, while they are correct colour and style, they are not in register, although they are better than those in the O-2A kit.
FBT337G Lynx , #Sqn RhAF, late 1979
FBT337G Lynx , #Sqn of Zimbabwe Air Force, October 1981
FBT337G Lynx , Air Force of Zimbabwe , late 1982
Conclusion
It’s great to see this variant finally kitted in 1:32, as although it was only used by one air force and in limited numbers, it is still an interesting sub-type. As with the other releases it is a disappointment with the amount of flash as there is no way a newly released kit should suffer from this, and the wave fronts can be overcome by heating the moulds better. Now we have to see what the aftermarket companies come up with to make this a more accurate and impressive model.
Review sample courtesy of

Here is my Roden 1:72 Fokker F.I which I built in 2006.
It represents 103/17 flown by Lt Werner Voss, of Jasta 10, from Marcke, in September 1917. Lt Voss was shot down in this plane on 23 September in a lone battle with six S.E. 5as of No 60 Sqn RFC.
The Fokker F.I was a pre-production variant of the famous Fokker Dr.I triplane of which there were only two built.
It was built OOB and my notes point out it was a bit of a tricky build. The paint scheme came out very well by accident. I followed the suggestion of various sources that the olive streaking was over a light blue base. Humbrol 47 Sea Blue was brushed all over and I then started dry-brushing Humbrol 155 Olive Drab when I put too much and had to rapidly spread the paint. Due to the "slippery" surface of the glossy blue paint, the paint spread out streaking exactly as I wanted so I painted the streaks in this way. A coat of dry-brushed Humbrol 66 followed with another of Humbrol 155 on top to add texture to the streaking. The rest of the kit was also painted by brush and the matt varnish airbrushed.
The decals were delicate and needed some trimming, as they were a bit oversize, and then some touching up with paint.
Thank you for looking and, as always, all comments are welcome
Miguel

Cessna O-2A Skymaster
Roden 1:32
Cessna O-2A Skymaster In the early 1960s, the Cessna aircraft company built a small commercial aircraft, the Model 337. Compared with similar aircraft of the same class, it had an unusual layout: a tractor engine in front, and a pusher in the rear. Instead of the classic fuselage layout, two booms extended backwards from the wing, which were connected by the horizontal tail assembly. The aircraft could carry two crew members, and four passengers or up to 450 kg of payload. It was quite successful commercially, but Cessna also hoped to find an outlet in a military role. In 1967 a military version of the machine appeared, the O-2A Skymaster. With the start of the Vietnam War, the US Air Force began to actively employ light aircraft as scouts, for fire direction or lightweight communications. One of the most widely used was the O-1 Bird Dog, but it was not always able to perform certain military tasks, such as controlling targeting for other planes. The O-2 was more suited to this type of task and, therefore, was soon involved in missions of this kind in the Vietnam conflict. Also, the O-2 could be used as a light strike plane, like its predecessor the O-1. For this, pods of unguided rockets and other light weapons could be hung under the wing of the aircraft. Some machines, designated O-2B, carried out 'psychological warfare missions - they were fitted with speakerphones broadcasting calls to the population to stop the war, but this exercise was not successful. Another important application for the O-2 was the rescue of pilots whose planes had been downed in an area of operations. The O-2 could take off from the shortest airstrips and land in the most unsuitable places for this purpose. Many US Air Force pilots had this machine to thank for their rescue. Series production continued until 1970, during which time at least 532 aircraft were produced. The end of their active military career in the US Air Force coincided with the end of hostilities in Vietnam, but in the US they were used long afterwards by the Air Force for patrol or liaison tasks, and were eventually decommissioned due to age and obsolescence. Despite this, this aircraft is still very popular among private owners. And many former military machines are still operated under civil registration or take part in numerous vintage airshows.
The Model
The kit comes in a rather large box with an artist’s impression of an armed O-2 in-flight. Opening the box reveals ten sprues of grey styrene, and one of clear, there is also quite a large decal sheet. Surprisingly for a new kit there is quite a lot of flash visible and wave fronts on some of the parts. That said the details are finely done and there is a fair amount of detail included in the kit. While it looks great on the sprues, I’ve read that while the accuracy is fairly close, there are problems encountered during the build, particularly with warped fuselage halves and an awkward roof fitting. So while I will go through the build process, be aware that there will be a fair bit of work required to get everything to fit correctly. You should also note that there are no spinners included, so some of the aftermarket deals may not be suitable for aircraft that were fitted with spinners.
The build begins with the assembly of the two, six piece propellers, horizontal tail unit with separate elevator, four piece pylons which includes the nicely produced crutch pads, and two, four piece rocket launchers and two seven piece gun pods. The tail booms are assembled next, each from two halves and with separate rudders and anti collision light on the port fin. The engine exhausts are also assembled at this point and put to one side. The engines themselves are complex little models in their own right, each engine consisting of no less than 50 parts. The rear engine frame and nose engine compartment/nose gear bay are also assembled, as is the seven piece nose landing gear. The seven piece front engine bay is fitted with the nose wheel assembly, followed by the engine assembly and the pair of exhaust pipe assemblies. The rear engine frame is then fitted with its engine and the simpler exhaust parts. The completed front engine assembly is then the attached to the firewall and under pan.
Work then begins with the the forward avionics bay that sits between the engine bay and the cockpit, this consists of four shelves on which the various radios and other avionic boxes are fitted. The instrument panel is then assembled, consisting of the panel, coaming, four rudder pedals, centre pedestal and control yolks with separate shafts. The four seats are then built up, two from five parts and two from four parts, before being glued into position on the cabin floor. The three piece doors are then assembled and the windows and viewing ports added to the fuselage sides. Now while the interior is quite nicely done, there is plenty of scope for the modeller to add further detail, including the quilted sound proofing, circuit breaker panel on the captain’s side of the cockpit, and seat belts. Check you r references when using aftermarket deals as some O-2’s had the rear seats removed and the co-pilots seat moved aft so that a litter could be fitted for medevac purposes.
If building out of the box the cabin floor is glued to one half of the fuselage, along with the engine assemblies and instrument panels and the three piece aft engine intake glued into position. The wing comes as three main parts with the upper section being a single piece moulding, not forgetting to open up the holes required for the pylons should you be using them as not all O-2’s were armed. The separate flaps can be posed in either extended or stowed positions and there is a skylight fitted above the cockpit area. The wingtips are also separate allowing of later versions to be released. The main landing gear comprises of a single piece strut and a pair of three piece wheels. With the fuselage all assembled, which will require a significant amount of weight in the forward area, wherever you can squeeze it in, the wing is glued into place along with the two booms and horizontal stabiliser. Then the main undercarriage assembly is add as are the pylons, weapons pods, nose bay doors, Rad Alt panel, and main gear doors. Finally the upper wing is festooned with a multitude of aerials and the two propellers attached.
Decals
The decals are really rather a disappointment, while they are correct colour and style, they are not in register and there are numerous spelling mistakes. Also the aircraft using the serial number is number 67-00109 is an imposter as that number was assigned to an F-111A. There are markings for three aircraft on the sheet, these being:-
Cessna O-2A Skymaster “Don’t’ Shoot”, Vietnam, 1967 (No unit or squadron information provided). Scheme composed of overall Aircraft Gray with Snoopy nose art on cowl and White upper wing panels carrying “Don’t Shoot” in large letters.
Cessna O-2A Skymaster, Unknown Unit, Vietnam, 1971. Scheme composed of overall Black with Ghost nose art on cowl and “THE FAC” in large white letters on upper wing.
Cessna O-2A Skymaster, Unknown Unit, Vietnam, 1970. Scheme composed of interlocking swirls of Tan, Dark Green, and Medium Green with Light Gray undersides.
Conclusion
Over all it’s great to see this aircraft being released in 1/32, yes it is more of a short run release that will require a little more work than say something from Tamiya, but it will look great once built. I have heard reports that some fuselages are warped so please check before starting the build. I am disappointed with the amount of flash as there is no way a newly released kit should suffer from this, and the wave fronts can be overcome by heating the moulds better.
Review sample courtesy of

Have not seen this kit completed here so I thought I would post this as it is my last bi-plane which I finished toward the end of 2018. This is Roden’s kit #430 in 1/48 scale. It represents a variation of the standard DH.4 in that the engine was replaced by a 230 hp Siddeley Puma. It was not particularly successful but ended up being used anyway because of the lack of other suitable engines. This particular aircraft was built by Westlund and was known as “Sultan Selim II” N.6416 of F. Squadron 62 Wing RNAS, in the Aegean during the Dardanelles campaign during the Summer of 2018. Clearly not too concerned about camouflage.
I have pretty much settled on using Uschi van der Rosten rigging thread as it is extraordinarily stretchy and very thin. Up to now I have used the .02 thickness but have on order the larger thickness as I want to see how it works. I also use 2lb test fishing line where I need to add strength. I make my own rigging anchors using 32-gauge beading wire twisted around the point of a needle and then glued in with CA. Have not made the leap to turnbuckles.
I know people knock Roden but other than their decals (which I think is only a problem with their older kits) I like their kits and this was typical of their efforts in that the parts fit well with lots of detail. The most time-consuming piece being the fun paint scheme and the rigging. I also painted the tail as I figured the decals would not work anyway. I also got myself a 300-Watt mini blow dryer/heater which helps the decals lay down (but be very careful as it will melt them quickly). This is not a perfect model but I love how the paint scheme came out. And yes, that is a lot of snow out my window.

Hello All,
Finished this one off - sat on the shelf of doom for over 12 months. Decals are ordinary. Fit in some places poor, Landing gear problematic due to uneven location lugs.
Ian
Happy Modelling all.
Ian

Besides starting an Austrian Tunnan soon (no free building space yet), my dad starts now also an Austrian Bird Dog using the new Roden kit with Brent-Air-Decals.
22 A models and 7 E models were in service with the Austrian Airforce from 1958 to 1997.
Austrian Bird Dogs
http://gotech.at/l19.htm
Brent-Air-Decals
https://www.brent-air-decals.at/österreich-decals-militär/props/
DSC_0001 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr

Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog (409)
1:48 Roden
The Cessna Bird Dog was a military version of the Cessna 170, called the Model 305A by Cessna themselves. It was developed to a US Army requirement for a two seat observation and liaison aircraft, first flying at the end of 1949. The design featured a single engine high wing monoplane with a tail wheel configuration and long loiter time. This was the first all-metal fixed wing aircraft ordered by the US Army after aviation was split on the formation of the Air Force in 1947 under the orders of President Roosevelt. As well as the US Army, the aircraft would be operated by the US Marine Corps and the US Air Force, famously in the Forward Air Control (FAC) role in Vietnam. US Forces would lose almost 470 aircraft in the conflict in total, including some in special ops and some with native Vietnamese crew. The aircraft would also serve in many other militaries around the world including Australia, Canada, Japan, Spain, and South Vietnam to name a few. They were eventually replaced by the O-2 Skymaster, then the OV-10 Bronco, but over 3000 were built and some 300 are still on the US civil register today.
The Kit
This is a new tool from Roden, happily for the 1:48 modeller, and it's a long time since we've had a new tooling of the Bird Dog. It arrives in a smallish box, and inside are seven sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, plus a clear sprue, three lengths of wire, three decal sheets and the instruction booklet. First impressions are good, although the decal sheets are a little off, which we'll get into later. The details on the sprues is nice, there is a complete engine in the nose, cockpit, but no gear bay detail at all!!! You got it – there are no gear bays as the L-19 has fixed gear. Yes, I'm a bad man.
The build begins with the Lycoming engine, which is constructed from a surprisingly large number of parts, and includes the piston banks, ancillary equipment, crank cases, intake box and manifold, plus the exhaust manifold, which links to a pair of mufflers and angled exit tubes. It is fitted to the firewall by four mounts, which has the instrument panel glued to the other side in anticipation of installation in the fuselage, work on which begins with the tubular-framed pilot's seat, the twin sticks, rudder pedals and aft bulkhead frame. The Bird Dog is a simple aircraft with not much inside, so once the side windows, door handles and a map bag are fitted, and the interior painted you're almost ready to glue the fuselage together after adding a decal to the instrument panel. A few holes will be needed in the fuselage beforehand, and Roden have you adding the elevators and landing gear at this stage before the fuselage is closed up. I can't think of a good reason not to, but it still feels weird. The elevators have a mounting point for two dipoles at the front, which accept the included lengths of wire, although I would check your references to assess the correct width before proceeding, and if thinner wire is more appropriate, use the kit wire as a template. As the fuselage is mated, a number of cross-braces and the rear bench seat are suspended across the cockpit, and the engine assembly is inserted against ledges on the interior, then the front and rear windscreens and the separate elevators and rudder are glued in place at an angle of your choosing.
The wings are next, and the first task is to add the six small roof lights that help to make this a better observation aircraft. The panels are all individual, and there is a little sinking in the centre of some of the narrower ones, which may respond well to being sanded flat and polished back to transparency. The upper wing is full width, with two lower halves that trap the separate ailerons, with wingtip lights and a landing light recessed into the leading edge of the port wing. The flaps can be posed up or down by swapping out the actuators, after which the wing is offered up (down?) to the fuselage and glued in place along with the prominent bracing struts that fit into pits in the fuselage and wing surfaces. The cowling is provided in sections, and these fit to the front fairing, so that if you wish you can show off the work you did on the engine by leaving some panels open. The twin bladed prop fits into the hole in the front of the cowling, and then it's just a case of adding the four lifting lugs on the centre wing, a bunch of antennae and sensors on the spine, plus the last big aerial wire on the roof of the cockpit with a small styrene base that traps it in place.
The Bird Dog sometimes did a little target marking using small diameter rockets that carried white phosphorous to create plumes of smoke for the attacking aircraft to home in on, a set of which are included in the kit. These are built up in pairs on a small launch rail, with cross-braces supporting the two rockets, and two pairs mounted under each wing, totalling eight in all.
Markings
There are three markings options out of the box, one each for the US Army and Air Force, plus a nice colourful one from the Canadian Army. The painting and decaling instructions are all done in grey scale, and it appears that the Air Force option has had its main colour marked incorrectly. The main colour is shown as A on the page, which is "Natural Steel" on the table at the front of the booklet, but having checked my references and a bunch of online photos of that serial numbered aircraft, it should instead by a light grey, which makes me wonder whether someone got their As mixed up with their Ms when they were adding the legend. You know now anyway!
L-19/O-1E Bird Dog (56-2661) US Army Air Service, Alaska 1966
L-19/O-1E Bird Dog (57-6273) Forward Air Controller (FAC) at Lai Khe supporting the 3rd BDE, 1st ID, 1966-67
L-19/O-1E Bird Dog (119732) of No.10 Tactical Air Group Mobile Command, Canadian Armed Forces, early 1970s
The large decal sheet contains the majority of the US decals, with the smaller one holding the Canadian option. The third small sheet is an instrument panel decal, but is slightly out of register. Overall the decals have huge expanses of carrier film that extend over multiple decals, so you would be well advised to cut each one from the sheet close to the printed area. My review sample had received a few light scrapes in transit too, which caused the black printing to shell off the paper in numerous places, which has ruined a few of the larger decals. There are "spare" Canadian and USAF markings on the main sheet, which may have been reprinted due to the offset on the Canadian roundels, and the change in gap direction of the stencil of the A in USAF. My sheet had some issues with the carrier film, which I have brought to their attention along with the colour profiles, but do check your kit, just in case.
Conclusion
With the exception of the issues with the decals on my copy of the kit, it's a great improvement on the ancient kit that I had in the stash until recently, which I have since given away to a friend. The detail is good, and once the discounters have gotten hold of it, the price is reasonable. I'll be using aftermarket decals for mine when I eventually build it, as there are some really interesting options out there, with many nations flying the Bird Dog.
Recommended.
Review sample courtesy of

Since this is now taking most of my modelling time I thought I'd post a WIP thread. I'm building a Roden 1/48 DH4a in Aircraft Transport & Travel Livery Blue and Silver although opinion is divided as to wether it should be Black and Silver. I like hte blue so that's what I'm going to run with.
First bit of assembley. It's a nice kit with sharp mouldings but everything is very thin and I had a lot of issues with alignments and fits. Not for beginners.
Some prelimary paint work and breaking out the oil paints for some wood effects.
Teeny tiny eylets (1mm OD) attached to the undercariage for rigging wires
Rigging of same in progress
Wheels on definitely needs a bit of cleaning up and retouching.
Vertcal tail added. I'd have put the upper desk on the Cat (my avatar btw, hes 20 so I suppose I have to forgive him his foibles) knocked it off the desk and I can't find it. Not the rug in the room I model in is a very short pile so it's more space time anomaly than carpet monster. However as the Roden kit comes with all the parts for the DH4 bomber ( and about 10 other variants) , if I can't find the decking I can always use the one from that version with just a little cutting.

Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog "Asian Service"
1:32 Roden
The Cessna Bird Dog was a military version of the Cessna 170, called the Model 305A by them. It was developed to a US Army requirement for a two seat observation and liaison aircraft. The design featured a single engine high wing monoplane with a tail wheel configuration. This was the first all metal fixed wing aircraft ordered by the US Army after aviation was split on the formation of the Air Force in 1947. As well as the US Army the aircraft would be operated by the US Marine Corps, and the US Air Force famously in the Forward Air Control role in Vietnam. US Forces would lose 469 aircraft in the conflict in total. The aircraft would also serve in many other militaries around the world including Australia, Canada, Japan, Spain, and South Vietnam to name a few. Over 3000 were built and there are still some 300 on the US civil register today. The Kit
The kit arrives on 7 sprues of plastic, a clear spure, a sheets of decals, and 3 lengths of wire for the aerials (not shown). The parts rattle around in a large box, and as the clear sprue was not individually bagged one part was off the sprue and others have been marked. The parts generally are well moulded, and the surface detail is very good, especially on the control surfaces. However there is some flash evident on the clear parts. This contains the same plastic as the initial USAF boxing so a USAF / US Army aircraft can be made if the modeller sources alternative decals.
Construction starts with the engine which looks to be a detailed one. The main undercarriage units are then made up. Pilots seat is made up along with its bracing struts. and the rear seat is also built up at this time. The completed engine is mounted to the engine frame and then to the firewall. To the other side of the firewall the instrument panel is added. Care will need to be taken with the engine and mounts as the tolerances with Roden kits can be tight and if not assembled correctly then they maybe be a fit issue with the cowling. The completed seat can then be attached to the cockpit floor along with other flight controls. The rear seat should probably be put in at this time though is gone AWOL in the instructions!
Next up the instructions have you build the tailplanes. These have antennas on the front held on by a front cap. Even though these are wire they are probably best left unto the end of the build. The final parts of the exhausts are now built up and attached to the engine. The clear parts and doors now need to be placed into the fuselage halves along with the tail wheel. The tailplanes and landing gear are then attached to the fuselage halves. The fuselage can the be joined together placing the cockpit in and the engine. The move-able tail elevators are also added now.
We then move to the main wing. The top side is one part with left and right lowers. The observation windows need to be placed into the wing at this stage. Flaps & ailerons are separate but only shown in the neural positions. The main wing is then added to the fuselage and the bracing struts are added. The engine front and cowlings can then be added. The model is finished with the main top whip antenna and a couple of blade antennas.
Decals
Markings are provided for 3 aircraft, they are printed in house and look to have no issues on the sheet.
Japanese Self Defence Air Force, JG-1043, unknown base, 1950s
South Vietnamese Air Force, April 1975, flown by MAJ Boung.
Royal Thai Navy, s/n 22860 (51-16973), No 1302, 103 Sqn, RTNB U-Tapao, ca. 1982
Conclusion
This looks to be a good kit in the box, however care will be needed as Roden kits do need it when putting them together. Even in 1.32 this is not a massive model and should build up to look good. Highly recomended for a Big Bird Dog.
Review sample courtesy of

M43 3/4 Ton 4x4 Ambulance
1:35 Roden
The Dodge M43 Ambulance is the chassis from the Dodge M37 3/4 tuck which was a follow on from the WWII WC 3/4 ton trucks. The M43 had a rear patient compartments with a connecting door to the front cabin. The spare wheel carries was retained on the drivers door. There is space in the rear for 4 stretcher cases or upcto 6 seated wounded. The vehicles were phased out of US Service in the 1970s and 80s. The Kit
This is a new kit from Roden in 2018 and follows on from their 2016 M37 Cargo truck. The kit arrives on 9 sprues, a clear sprue and 5 rubber tyres. Some of the parts on the sprues are for the M37 and not used. All parts are well molded with little or no flash and some nice detailing. Construction starts with the wheels. Two front, two back and the spare are built up and put to one side. The axles and gear box are then made up. The axles are then added to the main chassis along with the leaf spring suspension units, and shock absorbers. The engine is then built up and added to the chassis along with the radiator and exhaust. The front and rear bumpers are then added along with the fuel tank, running boards, gear box and transfer shafts. This complete the chassis.
We then move to the cab and body. The seats, dash and driving controls are added in, and the doors are made up. The windscreen is then made up. The front mudguards are also assembled, To the rear body parts for the underside are added then the inside floor lockers are added. The cab unit is then attached to the chassis with the steering column being added. Switching back to the Ambulance body internal fixtures are added to the roof and the connecting door added to the partitioning wall. The body is then made up and the stretchers added in.
The windscreen and front doors are added, followed by the main body. The bonnet (or hood) is then added as are the rear doors, All doors can be displayed open or closed. If the rear doors are open then there is a fold down step which can be used. To finish off the wheels are added along with a jerrycan & carrier
Decals
Markings are provided for 2 vehicles in use in Vietnam in the 1960s. One US Army in Olive Drab, and one USAF in Blue Grey. They are produced in house and have a strange texture, however this should not affect how they go on. The smaller red crosses are slightly misshapen and a couple of the circles are off centre.
Conclusion
This new kit from Roden should build up into a good looking model. Recommended.
Review sample courtesy of

C-5M Super Galaxy (332)
1:144 Roden
The competition to design the next generation of oversize load carrying aircraft began in the early 60s with concepts and proposals, with Lockheed eventually winning the competition due to the projected lower total cost of the project (ha!). The Lockheed design had the T-tail that we see today, and a quartet of high-bypass GE engines were selected to give the required range and thrust, but very soon after the type entered service, problems occurred that meant expensive changes were needed to make the fleet airworthy again. Cost overruns were also an issue, and this caused Lockheed some serious financial concerns that threatened their stability, as well as questions as to the honesty of some of the decisions and their makers.
The –B model made some improvements to the original design, but the major improvement was the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) discussed late in the last millennium and implemented in the early 2000s, which put many existing airframes through the rebuilding process, giving them new energy-efficient engines, a modern glass cockpit and improved avionics. This also improved many other aspects of the airframe and gave over 20% additional power, increasing their cargo capacity accordingly. Designated the C-5M and given the name Super Galaxy to differentiate them, these are the airframes that you will see in service today, side-by-side with the C-17 and Hercules fleets. The Super Galaxy is expected to be in service with the US Air Force until 2040 at the earliest, and attempts are already underway to further enhance the aircraft's performance and efficiency.
The Kit
There have been a few kits in various scales over the years, but nothing recent that you could consider mainstream in a reasonable scale and in injection styrene. Until Roden announced their kit a few years back, and now we have the latest variant of this behemoth, the Super Galaxy. The kit arrives in a long box by necessity due to the length of the fuselage, with a nice painting of a C-5M heading toward us in landing configuration. Inside is a bunch of mid grey styrene, although not as much as you might expect and as many have already noted, there is no interior other than the front cockpit, which has been carried over into this edition. There are twelve sprues of varying sizes, plus the two fuselage halves, which have been removed from their sprues and have a little flash around the cockpit opening and the gear bay apertures. They're the work of moments to remove however, and of no concern. There is also a small clear sprue, a fairly large decal sheet, and of course the instruction booklet along with a separate painting and markings sheet.
Construction begins with the engines, which have fan details moulded in, and are handed in pairs as you'd expect. They are then shown being fitted to the wings, which are each made up from top and bottom halves, and have the slat actuators slotted in along the leading edge, and an elevator trapped between the two halves. There are some shallow sink-marks along the trailing edges of the wings where the flap bay upstands are moulded, and these will need filling and sanding back to improve the look of the model. The flap housings are all built from two halves that are glued together with a butt-joint, and will need to be fitted and marshalled carefully to avoid getting them in the wrong order. Take careful note of which parts go where before you attempt the task, and cut off the mounting pips of the flap sections if you are depicting them stowed. You may also need to fill the holes for the deployed flaps too, depending on whether they stand proud of the flaps when installed.
The Galaxy has lots of wheels to spread its substantial load over the runway, with 28 in total, all made up from two halves each, so plenty of seam-scraping unless you decide to get some resin replacements. There are four main gear legs and one nose gear leg, with each main gear leg having six wheels on the bogie, and a strut that fits into a hole in the centre, which could well be a weak-point, and you must ensure that you don't cut off the pin on the strut, which has a slightly fuzzy join with the sprue gate. The gear bays are made up comprising a large roof with moulded-in detail, to which is added a quantity of ribs and stringers, plus bulkheads closing off the bay from the rest of the fuselage. The main bay is a single area, and has bay door hinges added to the sides before it is installed in the fuselage later in the build. Before this happens, the large T-tail is made up from two halves for the fin, and two more parts for each elevator fin, plus the elevator itself, which both plug into slots in the side of the aerodynamic fairing at the top of the tail. Finally, the rudder is glued together and fitted into the rear of the fin.
The fuselage is a bit on the large side, and due to this and the thickness of the walls, there is a quantity of distortion in the underside of my example, which should be easy enough to fix with some test-fitting, careful gluing and perhaps some tabs added to one side or the other to prevent them diving past each other. The cockpit, nose gear and main gear bay platforms are all glued into place beforehand, and six holes are drilled into the fuselage top for a pair of towel-rail antennas. The location of these are given using two scrap diagrams, which make a lot more sense once you realise you are looking at them from above. For the benefit of alignment, they're probably best done with the fuselage together. A number of clear portholes are supplied on the clear sprue, which are inserted from the inside, and will benefit from sanding flush if they remain proud (plus polishing back to clear) and a dot of masking fluid before you forget where they are. With the fuselage together, it can be top-and-tailed with the nose and the tail cone, which reminds us that there's little interior detail other than the cockpit and bays, which is a shame when you consider its sole raison d'être. The joint for the "visor" that allows cargo access to the front is engraved deeper than the other surrounding panel lines, so if anyone's feeling brave that makes the cut easier, but there's a lot more work still to do. The canopy is simply inserted into the slot in the nose, and take care to test-fit this before gluing it, as an element of flash on either part could cause it to stand forward, ruining the slope of the nose.
The instructions show the landing gear and their bay doors added at this stage, but as the wings are yet to be joined, I'd be leaving those until much later for fear of shearing those joins on the main gear. The wings are as yet without their slats, which are a single part each that affixes to the arms that were installed during main construction. You might notice that these are attached by a very thin layer of styrene all along the sprue, which is presumably to obtain minimum short-shots from the mould, so take care slicing them free with your weapon of choice. Then the whole assemblies are inserted into the big slots on the fuselage, which have internal buttresses to help keep the wings from sagging, although I'd also consider a little tab on the inside of the seam between the wings too, just as a belt and braces exercise. Ba-dum tish! It's done. Now for some colour.
Markings
At the end of the instruction booklet there is an overhead diagram showing where all the miles of walkway lines go, which augments the A4 colour sheet that only has enough room for two side profiles and a partial underside diagram. There's only one decal option, which is a modern grey airframe, as follows:
S/n 86-0022 Air Mobility Command, 60th AMW, 349th AWM, Travis Air Base, 2007
The decals are printed anonymously, and although they're fit for purpose, they're a little fuzzy under magnification, and the highly visible white decal for the refuelling receptacle has been printed slightly offset on my copy, but I can probably fix that with a scalpel and a dot of white paint. The American flags are also ever-so-slightly off too, but this can be fixed with a sharp blade. Check your copy when it arrives, and ensure you'll be able to use them.
Conclusion
This is a great subject and as long as you keep your wits about you, test-fitting everything and adjusting things as you go, paying careful attention to the instructions, you'll end up with a good model. If you approach it expecting it to fall together however, you'll have a lot less fun. Sure, there's a bit of flash hither and yon, but that's pretty simple to remove, and is a lot better than having short-shot parts. It would have been nice to have a little interior, the decals could have been a little better, but overall I'm still very glad to have it, and look forward to building it.
Recommended.
Review sample courtesy of